


Goodbye Gale

by orphan_account



Category: Hunger Games Series - All Media Types
Genre: F/M, growing back together
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-06
Updated: 2015-12-06
Packaged: 2018-05-05 06:12:10
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,639
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5364434
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>That Adele Song is everywhere. Here's what comes to my mind when I hear it. Gale's head is stuck in the past, he needs Katniss to forgive him so he can move on; but he cant seem to get through to her. Miscommunication, with a fluffy ending.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Goodbye Gale

The shrill sound of the telephone broke through the peace in the Victors Village.  
  
Leevy rushed through to the study to pick it up, hoping it wouldn’t have woken the baby.  
  
“Hello”  
  
“Hello. Um, Who’s that speaking?”  
  
“Leevy, Levy Oakenclough.”  
  
“Oh…, Hello Leevy. It’s Gale, Gale Hawthorne. I was trying to contact Katniss, have I dialled the wrong number?”  
  
“Oh no Gale, er… Sir; this is Katniss’ home, but she's not here right now. Would you like me to pass on a message?”  
  
“Could you just let her know I called? I'll call again later.”  
  
“Ok sir, I'll let her know.”  
  


Leevy put the hand set down and returned to minding the baby. She was a beautiful child; huge blue eyes and chubby pink cheeks, with soft, dark hair that was just about growing long enough for Leevy to put a bow in her top knot. She swelled with pride that Katniss had trusted her to watch her daughter whilst she and Peeta dealt with some business at the bakery.

The phone rang again. “Is he determined to wake you up?” she groaned, worrying that Katniss would return to a screaming infant and never dare to leave her again.

“Hello,” she sighed impatiently, “It’s Leevy, can I take a message.”  
  
“Hi Leevy, how’s it going?”  


“Caelan! How did you get this number?” She could feel the blush starting on her neck at the sound of his voice. She and Caelan had met as children, back in the half light of district 13. She had been happily surprised this year, to find he had chosen to come to help with the rebuilding of district 12. There had been a severe shortage of men her age in the district.

“I’ve got connections,” he laughed.  


As Caelan asked if she would be free to meet up with him that evening, all memory of Gale’s message slipped straight from Leevy’s mind; displaced by questions of what to wear and whether a walk around the new buildings counted as a date.

  


Gale Hawthorne was feeling sentimental for old times. He had worked hard through the post-war years, earning himself status and power as District 2’s representative at the senate. Yes, he was proud of all he had achieved, but he would still occasionally be woken in the night by that memory. Usually it would come after a particularly good days work, as if to remind him not to get carried away with himself. She’d be there, the Mockingjay, Katniss, as he last saw her, with the accusation in her eyes. For all he argued with her in his mind, explaining that ending Snow’s reign had been worth every sacrifice; he knew he still needed her to forgive him. He wanted her to tell him that she understood.

  


Footsteps on the wooden porch called Leevy back from her reverie. She shook herself free of the image of Caelan’s sweet smile and broad shoulders, to peer around the curtain, surreptitiously, watching Katniss and Peeta. There was something magnetic about their relationship. As always when they were together, their hands were linked, gently swaying in time to the silent music that they made. Leevy sighed; you could feel the love that flowed between them. They trusted each other implicitly. Katniss’ face was glowing as Peeta pulled her into a soft embrace, kissing her hand before he let go of it as they entered their home.

  
“All quiet?” Katniss whispered, knowing that her little one would be asleep.  
  
“Yes, she’s been napping for most of the afternoon.” Leevy replied. “Did you get everything sorted out at the bakery?”  
  


Katniss nodded, “I think it will work well. Peeta’s going to expand the shop to have a few tables and serve drinks. There’s starting to be enough going on in the town at last, for people to maybe want somewhere to linger and meet.”

“Oh yes,” Leevy’s mind returned to Caelan, “We could definitely use somewhere like that. Err, would you think me rude if I got straight off? I said I’d meet Caelan.” It felt good just to be able to say his name out loud.

Smiling, Peeta paid her with two loaves of his heartiest bread and a packet of cookies. This was still how trades were largely done in the district, although the senate was trying to encourage everyone to use a common coinage. Leevy was more than happy with the payment, the cookies would be perfect to share with Caelan. After gently brushing a kiss on the baby’s cheek, she rushed off to get ready for her…date?!.

She was nearly home when she had a passing thought that she had forgotten to let Katniss know Gales’ message. “Never mind, he said he’ll call back,” she reassured herself, letting any worry go. There had been too many bigger things to worry over in the lives of Leevy’s generation to be troubled by such a small oversight.

The next day was Sunday. The bakery was closed. Katniss woke in the early dawn sun, with a smile on her face, and nuzzled Peeta’s chest.

“Hey”  
  
“Hey” he replied, his voice still thick with sleep.  
  
“You’re still here then,” she prompted  
  
“Always.” It was their call and response; cheesy maybe, but she knew he would never let her down with his reply.  
  
His kiss was gentle on her mouth, only making her crave more.  


“Will you check she’s o.k?” Katniss still couldn’t quite adjust to her daughter having finally taken to sleeping through. If she went to check she’d end up waking her up to make sure she was still breathing; but she also really wanted some “mummy and daddy” time with Peeta.

Tousled and dopey, Peeta rolled himself out of bed. Happy to take on the task, he went to gaze on the other perfect creature in his life. Moments like this pushed all the hurt of the past further away, giving him hope that, one day, it would be so far gone it wouldn’t affect him anymore.

“Definitely still alive, but fast asleep,” he reported back to his wife, handing her a glass of cold water.  


As she reached out to take the glass, Peeta’s eyes were drawn up over her slender arms, noting the curve of her bare shoulder, to her neck. There was a glint in her eye.  
Katniss pulled back the cover to reveal she had undressed whilst waiting for him.  
“I think there’s a hint of spring in the air,” he grinned, pulling his bed-shirt over his head.  
Katniss aimed a pillow at him.  
His reflexes kicked in and he neatly caught it and bent down to place it under her head.  
Katniss pulled him in so her mouth could taste him again. She stroked her hands over his muscled arms, down his chest to find his hips, and free him from his pyjama pants.

Some minutes later Katniss was gasping from Peeta’s relentless tonguing, when he stilled, slowing his touches to a gentle swirling.  
She sighed, was it the baby?  
But then she heard it too, the phone calling from downstairs.  
Peeta rested his head on her thigh and quizzed her with his expressive blue eyes. Katniss replied by running her fingers through his hair, willing him not to move. He caressed her knee, finding the place that always sent the most delicious shivers through her body.  
That decided it for her.  
  


“Let’s leave it. Everyone that really matters is safe, here, in this house. And if it’s bad news, I can wait. Let me have a few more minutes of ignorant bliss.”  
“Mmm mm” Peeta hummed his approval into her core, needing no further encouragement to pick up where they left off. These were precious times.

  


Gale sighed and put the phone down, trying not to feel irritated. He thought he’d timed it so that he’d be sure to catch her; she was always up early. He remembered the days hunting together at daybreak; looking out for one another as they stalked through the trees. At one time they could communicate without even speaking, they knew each other so well; and now he couldn’t even manage to get her to pick up his call. Maybe she wasn’t picking up after Leevy gave her his message. Maybe she wasn’t picking up because she knew it would be him; and she was still too angry.

Despite convincing himself that Katniss was still too upset to speak to him, Gale called again later that day. He felt so bad for how his actions must have scarred her for life. She had relied on him and he had let her down; she would find it even harder to trust in anyone now. He just wanted to say sorry, again.

The ring tone echoed around the empty house.

Katniss and Peeta were out in the meadow, watching the sun set. It had been a good day. Her daughter had just started taking her first steps. She had looked so proud of herself as she staggered into her daddy’s arms to be swept laughing into the sky. Now she was worn out and sleeping in her arms. Katniss leaned into Peeta. He reached over to brush the tear from her cheek, gently holding her chin so he could read her face.  
“I’m so happy right now,” Katniss told him, her face catching the colours of the setting sun. 

They could hear the phone ringing as they approached their home.

“Will you go ahead and answer it? I don’t want to wake her up,” Katniss asked, cradling her daughter in her arms.  
Peeta was in high spirits from the day he had just shared with Katniss and their child, collecting plants and picnicking by the lake; topped off by being there for her first steps.

“Hello, Peeta Mellark, luckiest man alive,” he answered playfully.  


As an instant reflex, Gale put the phone down.  
He wanted to be fine about Peeta being there with Katniss, but he couldn’t deny the undercurrent of jealousy he still felt. It wasn’t that he expected there to be any romance left between him and Katniss. Let’s face it there never had been any real romance between him and Katniss. Well the Katniss he knew and loved didn’t want romance anyway, he argued back to himself. Mellark had done something to her, he grumbled.

Katniss came down from settling her daughter in her cot.  
“Who was that?”  
“I don’t know, they hung up when I answered,” Peeta raised his eyebrows at Katniss. “Is there something I should know.”  
Katniss rolled her eyes at him and checked the last caller number.  
“No-one I recognise.”  
Peeta took her hand to lead her into the kitchen.  
“What can I feed you?”  
Katniss smiled to herself. Not so long ago, something like a strange phone number would have triggered a flashback to the paranoia created by the tracker jacker venom. But not today. Today Peeta knew he had nothing to fear from her.  
“You can feed me whatever you want. If you’re making it, it will be good.” She added a kiss to make sure he knew she was talking about so much more than his cooking. He put the goodness into everything in their lives.

Gale called again later in the week, but again Katniss was out. She was always busy with her child, the bakery, hunting for meat, checking on Haymitch. Her life had become its own way of healing. There was too much to be done in the here and now to spend time thinking about past regrets.

Gale could feel himself getting angry. Is she trying to punish me, he wondered? I don’t deserve that. I didn’t set out to kill Prim. We had to defeat Snow at all costs. That was her only aim too, doesn’t she remember that?  
It wasn’t worth it he decided. If she wanted to hold a grudge, let her. He had tried to put things right between them. He gave up trying to call.

 

 

 

Nearly two years later, Gale set foot in District 12 for the first time since the war. He was met at the station by Thom. Although he had status in the Capitol and District 2, Gale had not forgotten he had gone into politics because he believed in equality. He greeted Thom as an old friend, a former work mate from the mines.

“It’s good to see you Gale, been too long.”  
“Do you know they’re celebrating the baby’s birthday up at the village today?” Somewhere along the line “Victors” had been dropped from the address of the oldest houses in the district.  
“She’s not really a baby anymore. Three years old today.”

Gale hadn’t realised that. He still couldn’t quite picture Katniss with a child. It had never been part of her plan.  


As they walked up the road he could hear music. The air was scented by roasting meats.  
“What’s this?” Gale was puzzled.  
“The birthday party,” Thom reminded him. The party was just getting going on the green at the centre of the Village houses.  
“I didn’t think Katniss would want that sort of a public display for her child,” remarked Gale. “Looks like Mellark showiness has taken over.” He couldn’t stop himself from sounding sour.  
“I guess the War changed us all in so many ways,” Thom gently chided his old friend. “We like to share any joy we can find here in district 12.”

Gale was stopped in his tracks as he spotted her.  


Katniss had changed. She had grown into a confidant woman; at the centre of her world. Her daughter stood between her parents, swinging on their hands as they discussed something between the two of them. They were oblivious anyone but each other.  
She was far from torn apart as he had imagined. More than surviving; she had flourished without him.

He didn’t want to spoil this. “Don’t tell her I was here, I don’t want to cause any upset.”  
“I don’t think she’d be upset,” Tom told him honestly.  
“I think she would be glad to see you looking so well.”  
He led the way up to the family.

“Look who I found at the station?”  
“Gale!” Without a second thought, Katniss pulled him into a hug.  
“Sweetheart, this is mummy’s old friend, Gale,” she introduced him to her daughter. He could see both her parents in the girl.  
“Have you come for my party?” she asked.  
“Well I came to say hello to your mummy…and daddy,” It finally hit him full force that they came as a pair. “But I’d love to come to your party if that’s ok with you?”  
She hid behind Peeta’s legs before giving him a shy nod.  
“You’re allowed,” Katniss replied on behalf of the family.  
“So you finally decided to pay district 12 a visit?” Katniss asked.  
“I had to come by this way on senate business; and I wanted to…”  
He realised he was the only one still suffering from what he had done. Seeing the peace Katniss had found was all the forgiveness he needed.  
“Well, I wanted to let you know my news. I’ve asked Cressida to marry me, and she said yes!”  
He decided not to mention that Cressida had said yes on the condition that he somehow put his guilt over Katniss and Prim behind him. It had still been lurking there, getting in the way of him fully committing himself to his relationship with Cressida.  
“That’s fantastic news.” As she hugged him again, he noticed the swell of her pregnancy.  
Peeta shook his hand.  
“Could I offer to make your wedding cake?”  
“Thank you Peeta,” Gale accepted.  
“Thank you,” he repeated, as he realised Peeta had brought Katniss the peace and happiness that he never could; and now he had also given him hope for a new future with Cressida.

**Author's Note:**

> I was going to leave Gale stewing, but I felt mean, so added the end bit. So it's a bit rushed and sappy at the end.


End file.
